Harry Potter and the Boy-Who-Lived
by xmypandabear
Summary: Fem!Harry. BWL!Neville. When the Tri-Wizard Tournament comes to Hogwarts, it marks the beginning of a series of events that lead the Wizarding World into chaos and places Harry firmly in the middle of it all - courtesy of her best friend Neville Longbottom, the Boy-Who-Lived.
1. September 1st

**Harry Potter and The Boy-Who-Lived**

* * *

"Come on Leo let's go!" Harry Potter urged, grabbing her younger brother's arm and their trunks before dragging him away from their grinning family. "We're gonna miss the train!" She shoved her brother up the steps and then stepped on herself, turning to wave back to her family just as the whistle blew and the train doors shut. She breathed a sigh of relief. They'd cut it close - a series of unfortunate events had meant they didn't arrive on the platform until 10:50, then her parents had wanted to make a special note of her brother's first time on the Express which had wasted more time.

Beside her, her brother shifted uncomfortably and she glanced down at him.

"What?" she huffed.

"Where do I go?" he asked as he peered into the closest carriages and saw they were already full of students.

Harry rolled her eyes. "You just find a carriage and sit in it. It's not hard, watch," she strode to the first carriage, yanked open the door and startling the students in there. "Hey, mind if my brother sits with you?" she smiled a winning smile, before realising they were a group of Slytherins. Her smile became more forced. "Actually, never mind. We'll just be going."

Never giving the students any chance to talk, she left the compartment, grabbed her brother and started down the corridor. They only moved for a few seconds before he pulled out of her grip and scowled at her.

"I can find my own compartment!" he huffed, picking up his trunk. "Don't embarrass me even more!" he stormed off down the corridor.

"Bye!" she cheerfully waved after him with a big grin. When he was out of sight, she grabbed her trunk and did the same. She had to find her friends too, though she had a suspicion they'd be near the end of the train - they usually were. As she dawdled along the corridor, so she wouldn't risk walking next to her brother and him sitting with her, she waved to the students she recognised.

"Hey Harry!" she blinked as Cedric Diggory waved at her from a nearby compartment. He was sitting with his friends.

"Wotcha Diggory," she said, repeating the greeting she'd heard from the new Auror that had started frequenting her Uncle's life. She leaned against the door of the compartment. "How's life?" Her mum and Remus worked in the same department as Cedric's dad, so she'd known Cedric since they were pretty young. He was a sixth year now, wearing his shiny prefect badge on his robes, and although it pained her to admit it because he was like a brother, he had grown up very handsome.

"Great," he replied with a grin. "Haven't seen you since..." his grin turned into a grimace. "Since the World Cup."

Harry wrinkled her nose. The World Cup had been that summer and everyone had gone to see it. The match had been amazing, but the after-party was ruined by some sort of riot. Her dad and godfather Sirius had apparated her and her siblings out almost immediately, so she didn't really know what had happened outside of the Daily Prophet.

"That was awful," Cho Chang shuddered and Cedric glanced at her and then placed a hand on her arm reassuringly. Harry blinked and looked between the two suspiciously, then at their other friends in the compartment. When they shrugged back, she let out a whistle.

"What do we have here?" she grinned.

"H-Harry!" Cedric turned to her, looking scandalised. "W-what are you -" Cho was reddening herself.

"Cedric and Cho sitting in a tree," Harry taunted, enjoying how both Cedric and Cho got even redder. "K - I - S - S-"

"Why you -" Cedric started to get up and Harry bolted.

"You better not forfeit your Quidditch matches for a pretty face!" she called over her shoulder with a snigger as she tore down the corridor, leaving the embarrassed couple behind her.

After a few minutes she slowed her pace as she was reaching the end of the train. Her brother had disappeared, but she didn't care because in the second carriage to last, she finally found her friends.

"I have arrived!" she sang as she swung open the door with a bang, making the people inside jump. "Did you miss me?"

"Harry!"

She basked in their happy greetings of her name for a moment, nodding in pleasure, before shoving her trunk under the seat and flopping down next to Neville.

"Wotcha," she greeted them.

"Where have you been?" Neville asked her.

"Did you worry? Sorry," she winked at him and he grimaced. She turned back to face the others and declared, "I had to make sure my brother didn't follow me and try to sit with us. We got here late so there weren't any empty carriages, so he's had to ask people," she laughed.

Hermione frowned. "Isn't that a bit harsh, leaving him on his own?" Ron and Harry both stared at her incredulously.

"It's like a right of passage," she said.

"Yeah, imagine if Fred and George or Percy had been with me," Ron scoffed. "No one would've sat with me."

"How will he make friends his age if he's with us?" Even Neville chimed in with a small smile.

Harry smiled, remembering her first year train ride. She had been fortunate to be friends with Ron before Hogwarts, like Cedric, having met through the Ministry, so the instant she was on the train she'd searched for him and they'd had a very enjoyable time together. Well, until…

"You were such a know-it-all back then," she said to Hermione, who started to blush.

Hermione had intruded on their carriage, but made such a bad impression they wouldn't let her sit with them.

Ron guffawed. "Back then? She still is!" Hermione 'hmph'ed and looked away, folding her arms, but they could all see how her face had reddened. Feeling a bit sorry for her, Harry threw herself off her seat and onto Hermione, smothering her with a big hug.

"It's okay Hermione, we still love you," she said as she smashed her face against Hermione's, much to the other girl's discomfort. "You may be a bossy know-it-all, but you're our bossy know-it-all!"

Neville coughed. "What she means is, you've really helped us out loads of times already. With all the stuff that happened first and second year, we wouldn't have been able to do it without you." Ron made a face but when Hermione glanced at him, nodded frantically too.

Still clinging to Hermione, Harry thought back to her first and second year. Their first year they'd foiled a plot by You-Know-Who to get the Philosopher's Stone, and the second year they'd stopped him from taking over Ginny (Ron's sister). Though, she admitted as she glanced at Neville, it had been less them and more him. Neville was the Boy-Who-Lived, the most famous person in the Wizarding World because he was the only person to have survived a Killing Curse. Apparently, Dumbledore said it was due to his mother's love for him that he survived.

Harry had never told anyone, but personally she didn't understand how love stopped a Killing Curse. Surely Neville's mum hadn't been the only person ever to sacrifice themselves for someone else?

She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, feeling a little guilty, and focused on other aspects. Neville didn't look or act famous. He was always quiet and cautious, and it was hard to know what he was thinking a lot of the time. Last year, Neville had confided in her it was his grandmother who had taught him to always be conscious of how he presented himself because people were always going to be looking at him. His grandmother had also told him lots of other stuff that, in Harry's mind, all added up to why Neville was so reserved – he was so worried about the thousands of things his grandmother told him to do, he didn't do much for fun.

That was why Harry had made it one of her missions to make sure he had as much fun as possible.

Realising she'd been in her thoughts longer than was normal, she immediately asked about how their summers had been and they spent the rest of the train ride messing around and stuffing themselves on sweets, and of course gossiping about Cho and Cedric when Harry told them. There was one brief run-in with Malfoy, but Harry had learnt a new spell that summer from her Uncle Remus and had sent Malfoy and his cronies away with red faces and their boxers literally in a twist. It must have been extremely uncomfortable and thus was incredibly funny.

It wasn't long until she and her friends were sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, anxiously awaiting dinner and the sorting ceremony to begin. Everyone was pretty wet from a combination of the pouring storm outside and water balloons from Peeves, so they weren't in great moods. As soon as the Great Hall doors banged open and Professor McGonagall walked in with the small first years trailing beside her, Harry hushed and 'shh'ed everyone next to her before pointing out her brother.

Leo was walking with a mousy-looking brown haired boy, both of them possibly the wettest of all the first years. He looked rather silly and was alternating between wiping his nose on his sleeve and sneezing occasionally.

The excitement quickly wore off when she realised 'P' for 'Potter' meant it would take ages for her brother to be sorted. The only interesting part was when she heard 'Creevey, Dennis' and the mousy-looking boy with Leo went up. She glanced down the table to Colin, who had been stalking Neville for a long time now, and saw he was anxiously awaiting the verdict.

"Gryffindor!" the hat finally said and Harry clapped obligingly, watching as Dennis sped over and sat next to his brother. She looked at Neville who had also noticed this with some dread and she could only hope Dennis wasn't as star-struck as Colin was.

Finally, her brother's turn came. He hopped up to the stool with surprising confidence and Harry waited with baited breath. When she finally heard 'Gryffindor' come from the Hat's mouth, she was the loudest one cheering at the table. She hadn't really thought he would go anywhere else – everyone in their family was a Gryffindor so there was no other place he belonged.

Leo was grinning madly as he walked to the table and as he passed her she couldn't resist reaching out to pull him into a noogie. They scuffled and then Leo made an escape, sitting next to Dennis and huffing at her. She stuck her tongue out back at him.

"Your brother seems like fun," Neville said, making sure to keep his voice low so as not to disturb the ceremony.

"He's a brat," Harry shrugged, "And anyway, didn't you see him at the World Cup?" Her whole family had been there, including her brother and sister, so she'd assumed Neville had met them then.

Neville shook his head. "Grandmother kept me busy," he admitted and suddenly Harry remembered she'd seen Neville spend more time with politicians and the Minister of Magic than any friends. She pulled a face expressing her displeasure at that, making Neville smile.

"Well, you'll probably be seeing a lot more of him now," she sighed and, wondering if Neville was worried about Leo's choice of friends, added, "He's not like Colin. If Dennis is the same as his brother, Leo will knock it out of him," she nodded emphatically. Neville looked relieved.

Just then the sorting finished and Dumbledore stood up to make a speech. What he spoke about lit up the entire hall with excitement and had Harry and her friends all exchanging awed looks.

They'd be doing the Tri-Wizard Tournament this year!

It was a legend, something Harry had never expected to ever happen again. A contest between Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, which was composed of a series of tasks that tested the champions, but because of the death toll had been disbanded in the previous century. It also explained why her parents had been smiling and sharing secret looks all summer whenever she mentioned Hogwarts. She'd thought they were just being weird.

When Dumbledore added on there was an age limit of 17, a lot of people looked extremely disappointed. Fred and George Weasley were especially vocal about their disagreement, but still put their heads together afterwards. Harry suspected they were going to try and enter anyway.

Nothing interesting happened the rest of the feast until near the end, when the doors to the hall banged open and made everyone jump. Harry had a brief flashback to first year and Professor Quirrel running in, screaming about a troll, but this time there was just a soaked figure who slowly made his way down the hall. The teachers had stood up, looking concerned, but Dumbledore merely rose and smiled at the man.

"Ah, and now let me introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," he said to the stunned students, as the cloaked figure reached the teacher's table. He pulled down his hood and Harry gasped.

"Mad Eye Moody!" she hissed. Ron's eyes widened, having recognised the name, but Neville and Hermione still didn't seem to know. "He's the most respected Auror ever, he was the one who taught my dad and Sirius everything they know," she hurriedly whispered to them. "He's really paranoid but he's fantastic."

Sufficiently impressed, for the rest of the feast they all watched Moody suspiciously eat the food, and Harry only ever saw him drink from a flask in his cloak.

Finally, when they were stuffed and could hardly move, they retreated to the Gryffindor Tower. Harry watched her brother follow the new fifth year prefects with the other first years with a grin.

"Here's to the start of another great year of mischief and magic!" she declared, linking her arm with Neville, and gave Ron and Hermione a big grin.

"Now you've jinxed it!" Neville muttered, but didn't pull his arm away.

* * *

 _Notes:_

 _1) Harry is a girl. Her name is Harriet, everyone calls her Harry.  
2) Harry is not secretly the Girl-Who-Lived, nor will she suddenly become the 'Chosen One'. That is, and will remain, Neville.  
_

 _Hope you enjoyed!_


	2. Mad-Eye Moody

The next day was a Monday.

"Why must they torture us so?" Harry moaned, slumping against Hermione and shoving her schedule in her face. "I won't last the week!"

Hermione shoved her away with a huff. "Don't be so dramatic."

"But Hermione," Harry whined and pointed to the double Divination they had that afternoon. "I'm gonna suffocate on Trelawney's smoke and it'll be your fault because you weren't there to save me-"

"If you didn't want to take Divination you should have swapped last year when you still had the chance."

Harry scowled at the other girl, who lacked any sympathy whatsoever and was intently reading one of the textbooks for their classes. Hermione was the only sensible one of them all, having ditched Divination last year in favour of other electives, and consequently today she was in a good mood.

Harry turned to Ron and Neville on the other side of the table. "You guys feel the same right?" she begged.

Ron looked up from his breakfast. "Huh?" he asked through a mouthful of food. Clearly, he hadn't been listening. Harry looked to Neville who just smiled sympathetically. Harry let out a dramatic moan and collapsed on the table, accidentally upsetting the bowls and plates around her with the force of her action. She cursed herself for taking Divination just to get what she thought was an easy grade.

"No one understands me," she wailed as other Gryffindor students shot her dark looks for disturbing their breakfasts.

Neville tried to make her feel better by saying, "Our mornings aren't so bad though, we're outside for all of it. Look," Harry twisted so she was able to see the schedule Neville held up for her. He was right. They had Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures before lunch, which almost made up for Double Divination. Ever since her mum had first brought back an injured Bowtruckle from work, asking her to help nurse it better, she'd had a fondness for Magical Creatures, making the class one of her favourites.

"I guess," she mumbled.

"And no Potions till Friday," Neville added on, looking extremely pleased. Harry couldn't stop a small smile. Neville wasn't very good at Potions. A lot of them had blown up on him over the years, making it his least favourite class. She hated it too, though not for lack of talent (her mum had insisted her daughter at the very least be competent) but because of its teacher – Professor Snape. Snape hated her with a passion. It had started unfairly, deducting points and belittling her right from her first class in first year, all because he hated her dad and his friends. Now, she was sure he hated her just for being her. She had never been one to take any insults or unfairness lying down, often talking back to him and consequently spending much of her time in detentions.

It was always worth it.

"I guess," she repeated, managing to force her head up off of the table. "Defence isn't 'till Thursday though." She looked over at Professor Moody, who was sitting up at the staff table. It was almost funny how paranoid he was about what he ate and drank. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to always go through life worrying about something like that.

This caught Hermione's attention. "Harry, you said he was your Dad's mentor right?"

Harry nodded. "Taught them all he knows. You see his eyes? He lost one of them when he was ambushed sometime and now has a magical one in there, pretty creepy huh?" she shuddered. "And his leg's missing too, apparently he lost them at the same ambush. His nose wasn't though."

"All from fighting Dark Wizards?"

"Duh," Harry rolled her eyes. "Who else do Aurors fight?"

Hermione didn't appreciate being 'duh'ed and thus didn't reply, just stared down at her books with a scowl. There was an awkward few minutes where Harry wasn't sure what she should do, unwilling to apologise when she'd done nothing wrong, so she looked everywhere except where Hermione was and spotted her brother down the far end of the table.

"Maybe we should start heading to class," Neville rescued them. Harry jumped to her feet.

"Yes sir!" she grabbed her bags and led the way out of the Great Hall, pausing only to sneak up on her brother from behind and scare him before cackling and running away. Having her brother here at school would be so much fun – for her, anyway.

Herbology was a bit boring, with Professor Sprout just introducing what they would do in the upcoming year. She and Ron spent much of it playing Hangman on a piece of parchment, while Neville (for whom Herbology was his favourite class) sat with Hermione and actually listened. What boffins.

Care of Magical Creatures was another story. It hadn't started off well, with Malfoy whinging about how pointless the class was and Harry arguing with him, followed by a nasty comment by Malfoy about the hippogriffs they'd studied last year. Their teacher Hagrid, in his first year of teaching, had introduced hippogriffs to the class, but they had to be handled delicately. Malfoy didn't listen properly and got hurt. His dad kicked up a fuss and the hippogriff in question, Buckbeak, had to be put down. There was nothing anyone could do, but it still made Harry angry every time she remembered. Hagrid had been devastated.

In retaliation, Harry had sent an itching curse at Malfoy's trousers. While enjoyable at the time, after class Malfoy tried to sneak attack her from behind. Fortunately, he was turned into a ferret by Professor Moody before he could do anything. For a glorious few minutes, Moody had bounced the ferret around while it squeaked in terror, before McGonagall inevitably spoiled the fun and insisted Malfoy be fixed. Now, Malfoy was terrified of Moody and Moody was officially the Best Defence Professor Ever.

It made the next few days feel like torture, the way they dragged on and on until finally, on Thursday afternoon, they had their first Defence class. She had extremely high hopes for what they would do.

They weren't disappointed.

There was dead silence in the room as all the students stared at Professor Moody. He had just announced what topic they would be covering in their double period.

"T-the Unforgivables, Professor?" Harry questioned weakly, when no one in the class was willing.

"That's right Miss Potter," Moody replied, "and your bravery will start us off. Tell me one of them."

"Um…" Harry couldn't help it, she glanced at Neville. Neville made sure to keep his face staring straight ahead, even though Harry soon saw everyone was shooting covert glances at her friend. She hastily looked back at Moody and cleared her throat. "W-well, there's the pain one, and -"

"The pain one?" Moody loomed over her. It was extremely unnerving that his normal eye was looking straight at her, but his magical was looking everywhere else. "What exactly is 'the pain one'?"

Harry stole a glance at Hermione who was mouthing something to her. Harry squinted, trying to decipher it. "The… Crucitus?" she attempted, and Hermione gave her a look of despair and disappointment.

"Pronounced terribly Potter, even with Miss Granger's assistance," Moody grunted and both Harry and Hermione went red. "You mean the Cruciatus Curse, which causes the victim to suffer almost intolerable pain. Victims who have had it put on them for long periods of time," he paused for dramatic effect, "are often driven insane." The class remained silent. Moody nodded. "Who can tell me another?"

Hermione hesitantly raised her hand. When Moody gestured, she said, "There's the Imperius Curse Professor. It puts the victim completely under the control of the caster and can make them do anything, even something they wouldn't want to do normally."

"Very good Granger," Moody said. "And the last one?"

The silence was painfully awkward. Harry looked over at Neville who was determinedly staring at his desk, refusing to meet Moody's gaze. Before Moody would force her friend to talk when he clearly didn't want to, Harry turned and kicked Ron under the desk. He swore loudly, attracting everyone's attention, and turned to glare at her. She gestured over at Neville and he frowned.

"Fine," he muttered so only she heard, and then louder said, "The Killing Curse." Moody didn't turn to look at Ron, intently staring at Neville.

After about a minute, Moody finally acknowledged Ron's answer. "Yes, the Killing Curse. Instant, painless death to anyone it hits. No one has survived it," he paused. "Well, no one except for our resident celebrity, that is." Finally, Moody seemed to give up on intimidating a response out of Neville and moved back to his desk. "I have here a spider," he said, pulling out a jar with a large spider in. Ron tensed beside her and Harry grinned. When her friend's attention was distracted, she reached around the back of his body and lightly flicked his ear. Ron jumped and flailed his arms for a few seconds, looking terrified. Harry snorted loudly.

"Miss Potter!" Moody barked. "Do you think the Unforgivables are a joke?"

"No sir," she said a little breathlessly, "just Ron's scared of spiders and -"

"Come up here and watch closely," he demanded. Harry couldn't stifle her last few sniggers as she got up and walked up to Moody. Now much closer, she could see the glass jar and spider inside clearly. Moody held the glass up for the whole class. "Use of the unforgivable are punishable by a lifetime sentence in Azkaban," he said, "However, I have been granted special permission to use them in this class." Harry's eyes widened, as did her classmates. "Now watch closely," Moody said, enlarging the jar and spider a little more. He pointed his wand at it. "Imperio!"

The spider stilled, and then started moving about in strange circles. It even attempted to dance a few times and there were a few laughs around the room.

"You think that's funny?" Moody barked, cutting across the room like the snap of the whip. "Imagine if I wasn't making it dance. Imagine instead, it was you, and I asked you to kill your best friend."

No one was smiling or laughing in the classroom now.

Moody waved his wand again. "Crucio!" Before Harry's eyes, the spider seemed to collapse on itself. Its legs contorted, its body twisted, and it slid across the bottom of the jar. There was no sound, but the image was horrifying. Harry, closest of everyone, could see clearly how it's eyes bulged and had to look away. Finally, Moody finished with a quiet, "Avada Kedavra." Despite looking away, she still saw the flash of green. She instead looked over at Neville who had gone white as a sheet, and she hoped he was okay. She herself felt sick.

"Sit back down Miss Potter," Moody said, sounding a lot kinder than when he'd called her up, and on shaky legs Harry made her way back to her seat. She thought about her dad and Sirius, fighting Dark Wizards. Had either of them suffered the Cruciatus? Or the Imperius? Unable to help herself, she saw her dad on the floor of their living room, his limbs contorting like the spider's, and she had to clap a hand to her mouth to help fight the rising nausea.

Fortunately, Moody swiftly moved on from there and they spent the rest of the lesson purely on the Imperius Curse. They even got to experience what it was like being under the curse – no one could fight it off, but it was surprising how good it felt. It was like living on a cloud and the real world was just a dream.

It was only later that evening that she really recovered and was able to start joking around again. With the distance those hours gave, Harry, Ron and Hermione were able to look back and feel it was one of the more productive DADA classes they'd ever had. Neville refused to talk about it, but he never really talked about personal things and that had probably hit close to home. Harry tried to keep his mind off of it by reminding him of Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Ferret.

The following weeks passed surprisingly quickly after that, until suddenly it was the week before Halloween and a notice was posted up for the whole school to see.

 **Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students will be arriving the evening of October 29** **th** **.**

Harry couldn't help but squeal in excitement. Finally, the Tri-Wizard Tournament was going to start!

"I wish I could enter," she sighed to her friends in the common room later on. Everyone was buzzing about the new arrival of the schools and what the students would be like, though there was still several days until they would come. "All that glory!"

"And the money!" Ron added. "Think of what you could do with that!"

The prize for winning the tournament was 1000 galleons. Ron's family didn't have a lot of money, so Harry could understand why that motivated him. She didn't really care about the galleons though, she just wanted to prove herself. She wasn't famous like Neville, but her family was extremely well respected. Her dad had become the youngest Head Auror ever and she thought he could easily run for Minister if he wanted. Everyone loved him.

Meanwhile, although her mum wasn't the head of her department, she had advanced swiftly too and the combined work of her, Remus and Cedric's dad had resulted in a lot of new laws being pushed through for magical creatures, especially werewolves. She'd faced the criticism and hatred from all sides and still succeeded, making life better for all the creatures and winning a lot of respect.

They were awe-inspiring, and she really wanted to make them proud. Being in this tournament would do that.

"Yes, but you're not old enough," Hermione pointed out. "Neither of you are, so forget about it. Besides, we already get in enough trouble, why must you insist on going looking for it?"

"Well sure, but Cedric's gonna do it," Harry said. "I could help him out, you know, be his second in command, his alternative, his stand in... I bet he'd love it. He'd be totally safe knowing I could take over from him if anything happened." She nodded emphatically, making Hermione roll her eyes. Harry turned to look at Neville. "So Nev, you with Hermione or me?" she batted her lashes at him.

"Oh, I, uh..." Neville looked a little flustered, like he hadn't expected to be asked.

"Neville doesn't need to do it," Ron cut in. "He's already got the fame, can't be beaten on that no matter who wins!"

"And you don't need the money," Harry considered, knowing the Longbottoms had a substantial amount of money behind them. Neville was always dressed in the highest quality clothes and other items. For appearances, of course. Neville himself had no clue determining one piece of clothing from the next.

"Well-" Neville tried to speak.

"Oh leave it alone you two!" Hermione huffed. "This is a pointless discussion anyway. I say we just support Cedric and leave it at that."

Harry shot a baleful look at her friend. "Man, you really know how to kill all the fun," she grumbled and got up out of her seat. "I'm gonna go speak to someone who is more interesting!" She glanced around the common room. "Fred, George, you busy?" she bounced over to them with a beaming smile and quite happily joined in on their 'secret' discussion on how to get over the age line. She always had a lot of suggestions for mischief - a side-effect of growing up with her family. There had been a lot of pranks.

Privately, she knew she wouldn't really enter the tournament, but it was nice to dream wasn't it?

* * *

 _Notes:_

 _1) This chapter went from the first day of classes (Sept 2nd) to the week before Halloween (Oct 26th)._

 _Hope you enjoyed!_


	3. The Four Tri-Wizard Champions

The morning of the 29th October, Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table munching on her breakfast while reading a letter from her family. It didn't say anything interesting really, her mum wanted to know how classes were and how her brother was getting along, her dad wanted to hear about what mischief she'd been up to.

She gazed across the Great Hall at Malfoy, who had the amazing talent to be a ponce even while eating breakfast. The sad part was she hadn't really been up to any mischief, small or big, and she was no closer to making Malfoy pay than she was a few weeks ago. The only trouble she could claim was the once a week detentions from Snape, but she wouldn't tell her parents that. For some weird reason her parents were really blind about him and didn't believe her when she said he hated her. Her mum always smoothed her hair down and assured Harry she was being paranoid, while her dad would just laugh and change topics.

A hand waved in front of her face and she jumped, turning to look at its owner – Ron.

"Earth to Harry!" he was saying, though he stopped when he saw he'd got her attention. "Were you listening?"

"Sure," she grinned. "What were we talking about?"

"About the foreign students coming tonight," Hermione explained with a frown. "Where do you think they will stay? And will it be the whole school or just a select few?"

"Oh," Harry shrugged. "No idea. Maybe tents, like at the World Cup?"

"They'll probably bring their own housing," Neville said. "And there's an age limit, so they'll probably only bring anyone who is able to apply."

"Age limit? Better tell her that," Ron scoffed and nudged Harry. She frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she huffed.

"It means," another voice said from behind, making them all jump, "that it's all over the school you, Fred and George have been trying to find a way around it." Harry turned around and saw Cedric standing with his arms crossed.

"Hi Cedric," she smiled and batted her eyelashes. "How have you been?"

"Stop that," he huffed and gestured next to her. She and Ron obliged, sliding apart so Cedric could sit down. "Look, are you really trying to enter? Fred and George had a good enough chance of beating it on their own, but if you're helping them?" he shook his head.

Harry shrugged. "Fred and George are. I think it's just fun to try," she grinned. "Dumbledore said it was impossible. That makes it a challenge."

"Remember, you promised if you got it you'd put my name in," Ron said.

"Yeah yeah," she patted his arm.

"The rest of you don't want to?" Cedric looked at Neville and Hermione with surprise.

"No," Neville shook his head and emphatically said, "I just want a quiet year, like last year. Last year was a good year. Nothing happened. It was great."

Harry shrugged. "Though you'd probably do the best of all of us Neville, with your history and all," she pointed out.

"My… history?"

"You know, basilisk second year, big stabby sword," she made a few swings with her hand. "Plus you have top marks in all our classes, second only to Hermione."

"I don't want to enter," Neville frowned.

"Well sure, that's what you say now –" Harry started.

"No, it's what I'll say forever," Neville grabbed his books and stood up. "I don't have any intention. I don't want the attention. Cedric, I hope you are chosen because you deserve to be the Hogwarts Champion." With that, he stormed away from the table. Harry watched him go with surprise.

"What's got into him?" she wondered out loud.

Hermione just sighed. "Harry, in the extremely unlikely event you find a way through the age line-"

"I won't put his name in," she finished. Everyone shot her a surprised look. "What?" she asked. "I wasn't ever serious. Neville's one of my best friends, I wouldn't do anything he wouldn't want."

Ron frowned. "But you will-"

"Put yours in, yes," she nodded. "Though there is that age line to get through still…"

"Well, you haven't got much time left," Hermione reminded. "The other schools arrive tonight, the Goblet will be lit tomorrow and the next day they'll choose champions."

"Better get on it then!" she grinned and got up. "I gotta find your brothers Ron, see you later!"

Although that was what she told her friends, she didn't actually find them, and decided to make use of her time by owling her parents back and asking for any books specifically for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. She'd looked through the library but it hadn't helped. If Cedric was really going to enter, he would probably find them useful.

The rest of the day passed slowly, until finally there was a shriek and everyone was running to the windows. Harry and her friends did the same, and watched with awe the great ship which folded out of the water and the carriages which glided down on winged horses. She'd never seen anything like it.

The students from the other schools made their debut at dinner that evening, and there was one thing which struck her about all the girls from Beauxbatons – they were all so… _attractive_.

She had never been self-conscious at all about her appearance, barely spending more than five minutes on it in the morning, but suddenly compared to all the beautiful French girls she felt uncomfortable. There was one girl in particular, a blonde, who was drawing all the boys to her. Harry self-consciously touched her own hair, wishing it looked as silky and shiny as this girl's. Hers was normally a rat's nest, knotty and untameable.

The Durmstrang boys were the same, for the girls anyway, but there was only one boy who caught her eye – Victor Krum. Just looking at him made her heart beat faster and palms sweaty, but she also couldn't look away. Victor Krum was a Quidditch star, a seeker like her. He'd played in the World Cup that summer and done a Wronski Feint, something she'd tried and so far failed to do. She was always fearful she would hit the ground and become a pile of mush. Victor Krum was everything cool in the world.

The most exciting part of the evening though was when they brought out the Goblet.

"The Goblet of Fire," Dumbledore announced, "We will place it in the Entrance Hall, accessible to all. Anyone who aspires to be a champion must write their name and school on a piece of parchment and put it in the Goblet within the next 24 hours. Tomorrow night, on Halloween, the goblet will choose the three it has judged worthiest – one from each school. As I'm sure you all remember, only those aged 17 will be able to apply."

"Hey Harry," Ron leaned across the table to her and whispered, "Any luck on the age line?"

Fred and George had come up with a potion which had a good chance, but otherwise there was none. At least, none she could find, but she didn't want to admit that. After how she'd made a big deal of it, she couldn't come out and say she hadn't succeeded so she chose to omit the truth.

"You'll have to wait and see," she winked.

"Knew I could count on you," Ron thumped her on the shoulder with a wide grin and looked back to Dumbledore. Harry glanced away though, feeling a little guilty. What harm would it do to let him think his name would be in? When Cedric's came out and his didn't, she could just pass it off as the Goblet's choice.

"Did you really?" Hermione asked, sitting beside her, quiet enough only she and Harry would hear. When Harry looked, she could saw the spark of curiosity in her friend's eyes – no matter how much she disapproved, she couldn't resist the temptation of knowledge.

Harry just shrugged and smiled mischievously, making Hermione roll her eyes.

It turned out the foreign students would stay in the transport they came. It was almost disappointing, how much it reduced the chance of 'accidentally' bumping into Victor Krum.

The next day, the Entrance Hall was buzzing. It seemed there were always students around, eagerly watching to see who would put their name in next. Harry wasn't there when Cedric put his name in, but she heard almost the entire Hufflepuff House had turned out to cheer him on. It would've been funny if it wasn't so cute. She was there when Fred and George tested their potion though. It was a simple but genius plan. They took an aging potion and were able to get through the red line and put their names in, but then it spat them back out and the potion backfired, turning them into elderly men with long beards. That had been pretty funny.

All day Ron kept bugging her about when she would put his name in, with Hermione tutting each time he brought it up, and Neville trying his hardest to pretend the conversation wasn't happening. He had been in a mood with her ever since breakfast and refused to talk to her at all.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and had to sneak away from her friends for a few hours. She hunted down her brother, because she found it odd she hardly saw him when they were in the same house, and was told to bog off. Fortunately, he'd done his job of making sure Dennis Creevey wasn't obsessed with Neville. Maybe Dennis could pass that onto Colin, and then Neville wouldn't be surprised with random photos.

She met up with her friends again just before dinner.

The Great Hall was crammed. Even though it had been magically enlarged to make room for the two new schools, it was still pretty chaotic in there, especially since tonight was the night the names came out of the Goblet. No one wanted to miss it.

"I can't wait for this to be over," Neville mumbled.

Harry looked at him in surprise. "You're not even a little bit excited about this?"

"I'm sure I will be, once it's decided who will be in it," Neville said. "But I've got a funny feeling I can't shake. You definitely didn't put my name in, right?" he looked very anxious.

"I wouldn't do that Neville," Harry said softly, reaching out to squeeze his arm. "Not when you said you didn't want it. And about earlier, I was just joking," she attempted a smile. "You know me, I'm always saying stuff I don't mean, can never tell a truth or a lie, right?"

For the first time that day, Neville smiled back. "You're right, you're all talk but no bite," he teased.

"You wound me!" Harry placed a hand over her heart and pretended to be wounded, but couldn't stop the happy buzz that came from Neville no longer being mad at her. "Stay your words, or I'll unleash the mashed potatoes on you!" She scooped up a spoonful of them and threateningly aimed them at her friend.

"I'm so scared," Neville deadpanned.

Realising she wasn't getting anywhere, she huffed and put her spoon back on the plate. "Well, you'll see, my potato aiming skills are something to be scared of."

A glass at the staff table clinked and gradually the students all quietened down. Slowly, the Goblet of Fire was wheeled down the centre of the hall by Filch, who didn't look very happy about it, and was put right at the front so everyone could see. Dumbledore stood up.

"And now, the time is at hand," he began, gesturing to the Goblet. "In a few minutes, we will find out who has been chosen to represent each of our schools. I hope you're all as excited as I am," he beamed around at them all. Everyone turned to look at the Goblet with baited breath, the red flames on top flickering in the light.

After what felt like forever, the first name was spat out of the Goblet.

Dumbledore collected it.

"And from Beauxbatons, we have… Fleur Delacour!" he said, and all of the Beauxbatons girls broke into cheers. The majority of the males in the school did too of course, because Fleur was the beautiful blonde who seemed to have all of the men under her spell.

Harry felt a strange irrational dislike for her, and hated herself for it.

Fleur was taken to a side room off of the Great Hall, and then the Goblet spat out another name which Dumbledore collected. "And from Durmstrang, we have… Victor Krum!" Again, the hall erupted in cheers, this time from the Hogwarts girls (Harry included). Victor followed Fleur into the other room.

Finally, it was time for the Hogwarts Champion. The name was spat out, Dumbledore picked it up and read, "And for our dear Hogwarts Champion, we have… Cedric Diggory!" Cedric had the loudest of all cheers, as the entire Hufflepuff and the majority of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw celebrated. Even the teachers were smiling and clapping. Ron was the only one disappointed.

Cedric got up and joined the other Champions in the small room. Dumbledore gave a few parting words and started to follow, when the Goblet lit up again.

Everyone went silent, staring at it. Suddenly, another name was spat out and landed on the floor. Looking incredibly surprised, Dumbledore picked it up and stared at the name for a few seconds. Harry shared a confused look with her friends. A fourth champion?

"Neville Longbottom," Dumbledore eventually said, and looked around the room. Neville turned a pasty white and Harry's heart suddenly skipped a beat. "Neville Longbottom!" Dumbledore repeated, sounding mad. Slowly, Neville turned and stared at Harry in betrayal. Hermione did too, with a lot more disappointment, and even Ron was looking at her.

"How could you do this?" Neville whispered, just before Hermione reluctantly pushed him up.

Neville was now the centre of attention in the hall. Harry watched him shakily walk towards Dumbledore, unable to find any words. She was as stunned as the rest of them as Neville was taken into the other room and out of sight. A lot of other teachers followed, including the two headmasters from the other schools, and none of them looked pleased.

"Harry, you swore you wouldn't!" Hermione hissed at her.

"You put him in, but not me?!" Ron demanded a moment later.

"I-I-I-" Harry couldn't do anything but stutter.

"I can't believe you would do this!" Hermione continued. "You knew Neville didn't want to be in it but you still put him in -"

"Oy, how did you even do it?!" came another indignant voice, and with dread Harry saw Fred and George Weasley close in on her. "We let you plan with us for weeks, but you found a way and didn't tell us?!"

Harry was really regretting not admitting to everyone earlier how she hadn't managed to get past it. Why hadn't she? She'd thought it fun to keep everyone guessing, she'd liked how they'd thought she could do the impossible. Now… she looked at her friends and couldn't handle their betrayed looks.

"It wasn't me," she managed to squeak out. "I-"

The door where the other champions had disappeared opened and McGonagall came storming out.

"Miss Potter!" she demanded, and Harry could only stare at her in dread. "Harriet Potter you will come here at once!"

She was really, really screwed.

* * *

 _Hope you all enjoyed!_


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